ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "Dark World of Beats" 4:13

COOL! Newcomer M Benson (Mike Benson) gives us an... experimental garage jazz folk funk? ...take on "Another World of Beasts" and "Dark World" from FF6, featuring live instruments, unorthodox production, and an appropriately otherworldly atmosphere. Also gotta like that he probably patterned his handle after M. Bison:

"I played everything in the mix except for the drums, which are sequenced. Hope you enjoy!"

I hear sax, bass, flute, accordion, and some nature FX. I don't think he played the nature FX himself, so I'm calling foul :) It's an impressive arsenal of instruments, and while sax leads the melodic way, the flute & accordion bits add a lot, and the bass has character. The arrangement itself is arguably the star of the show; it's certainly front and center, as uncertain, dark, & off-kilter framing and transitions create a sense of... strangeness. The faster opening sax arpeggios circa 0'25" sound difficult, almost like a practice exercise, but that ends up being part of the atmosphere, too. Sir_NutS sums it up well:

"The use of sax for these arpeggios throws me off, I don't usually hear the instrument used this way too often. Nothing wrong with it, just different. The heavy swing is another curveball in a fairly unorthodox arrangement, and it will sound pretty odd to many people but I really dig it. Love the panned clarinet playing the dark world motif, for some reason reminds me of Disney's Fantasia. This remix has tons of character and you definitely made it your own. Even with the changes, the source is kept clear and familiar. 

Very interesting remix for sure. Let's go."

I live for interesting; I have no problems when a piece of music uses tried & true patterns and sells them through execution or a particularly good hook, but I dig it a bit more if there's something peculiar going on, even if it's a single moment. This swirling, dark, & serpentine debut is full of peculiar moments, and the resulting experience is engaging and singular; odd, perhaps, but pretty easy to get into & appreciate. Excellent, imaginative debut from M Benson - would love to hear more!